The kinetics and products of the atmospherically important reactions of volatile non-methane organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from biogenic sources will be studied. Biogenic emissions of hydrocarbons, such as isoprene, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and a variety of oxygenated species are estimated to dominate over those emitted from anthropogenic sources on global and regional scales. Hydrocarbons play an important role in the formation of ozone in rural and urban areas. Specifically, the products of the reactions of hydroxyl (OH) radical, in the presence and absence of NOx, nitrate (NO3) radicals, and ozone with isoprene, monoterpenes, and oxygenated VOCs will be studied. Kinetic, product, and mechanistic studies of first-generation (and possibly second-generation) products of isoprene, monoterpenes, and oxygenated biogenic VOCs will be conducted. The resulting detailed data will be useful as inputs into chemical mechanisms for use in urban and regional-scale computer models for the formation of ozone and other photochemical oxidants.
